The Sketchbook
by Jax Malcolm
Summary: A storybook of tales of unrelated one-shots... all written in under one hour.
1. Dragon Paradise

**Note of explanation:** On the Pokémon Fan Universe forums, I have a thread where other members give me a word, phrase, or image, and I have one hour to write and proofread each of them. They could be any word, phrase, or image (within reason) as long as they don't restrict my imagination. The following one-shots are the results of these requests. There is no actual plot that ties one to another, hence why I call this a "storybook."

Before each "chapter," I'll provide the title and inspiration of each, mainly for your amusement.

Enjoy!

**Inspiration: **A sprite of a wingless Salamence

* * *

It was hard for Bagon to enter the cave. She knew what was inside, and frankly, she couldn't bring herself to see it. But it was an obligation. She _had_ to be there. With that thought in mind, she took a deep breath and crept inside. The darkness closed around her like a trap. The uneasiness within her grew. Yet she couldn't leave _because_ she was there.

The silence of the moment was shattered by a soft grunt. Bagon stopped in her tracks and waited in the inky blackness. For a moment, she hoped that he wouldn't notice her. She hoped she could disappear back through the gaping maw of the earth and into the bright sunlight. What she wouldn't give to see the wide open skies again…!

"Child," a low voice murmured. "Why do you stay so far away from me?"

Blast it all. He noticed her. Bagon should have guessed; he always had a superb sense of smell.

The other snorted as he exhaled flames from his nose. She placed the bundle of sticks she brought with her on the cold floor of the cave and watched him bow his head and light them with the fire from his nostrils. Immediately, the wood burst into flames and threw its quivering light throughout the cave. Bagon backed away slightly, unable to look upon her elder.

Yet after several moments, her eyes glanced over to see him. Oh, how horrible he looked then! His once glimmering, colorful scales had turned a dull gray, and they barely did much to cover his sagging skin. He was hunched over and barely able to stand. Every part of him proclaimed his age, even the wisdom in his eyes and the creases just under them.

Bagon only winced because she knew that someday, it would happen to her. One day, she, too, would become old. Her scales would no longer be her coat of beauty, and her wings would become deformed to the point where they could no longer carry her. They, in all their uselessness, would fall off like the legs of a dead centipede and leave her stranded on the ground.

"Why do you fear me?" the Salamence finally inquired as he rested his head beside the fire. "Do you find me shameful?"

The hatchling had neither the heart nor courage to say this was true. She pitied the aged dragon, but at the same time, she feared his power. At his age, he was strong enough to wipe out a young dragon hatchling like her with the weakest attack in his arsenal.

Salamence, however, knew all too well what she was thinking. In response, he chuckled.

"I remember when I was your age," he told her. "I could never find the courage to look my grandfather in the eye either."

Bagon reluctantly threw her gaze towards him. "Why… why not?"

Salamence grinned. "It was for the same reason I assume you refuse to look at me. You fear the day when you, too, will begin to die."

At this, Bagon's head snapped forward as a look of horror crossed her face. "Don't say that, grandfather! You will live!"

"All things must die at one time or another," her grandfather stated grimly. "It is how life completes its cycle. We are born, we grow, we evolve, we breed, and we die. It is nothing to be afraid or ashamed of, though, for once we arrive at death, it is never truly the end. We will live on. Perhaps not in this world, but certainly in another."

Bagon sat down near the fire. "What do you mean?"

"No one ever told you?" Salamence questioned with a smile. "Somewhere – not here, but _somewhere_ – is a place where the noble spirits of all dragons go after they die. It is a paradise with everything you could possibly imagine. Beautiful lands, dragon clans to keep you company, and the wide, blue sky to enter. Your wings will grow back at that place, and forever, you and all the other dragons will dance among the clouds and look down in satisfaction at the lands below. How does that sound, child?"

"It sounds beautiful," Bagon responded.

"You see," Salamence continued, "death is not a scary thing. There is something for us all afterwards. A place where we will never suffer again."

"I'd like to go there," Bagon said. "Will you take me with you?"

The elder laughed for the first time in days. "No, little one. Not yet. You will join me someday, but not yet."

"When?" Bagon asked.

After a moment's pause, Salamence replied, "I thank you for the wood. You may leave here if you wish. Go and enjoy the day. The sun is shining, and the sky is just the right shade of blue."

"But…"

Salamence closed his eyes and ended all protests right there. Bagon knew Salamence wanted some peace to sleep, so she had no choice but to respect his wishes. She gazed at her grandfather one last time before turning and walking out of the cave.

With only the crackle of the fire dancing in his ears, Salamence smiled and began his journey to the dragon's paradise.


	2. Savagism

**Inspiration:** "Ancient Pokémon"

* * *

He flexed his body like a cat as he crept through the tall grass. Quietly, he made his way forward with nothing but a spear and a net in his hands as he pulled himself closer to his target. He couldn't make a sound. If he did, the creature could do one of several things. At worst, it could run away; at best, it could attack him. 

Carefully, he pushed his head over the stiff, green blades all around him to get a better view. The purple monster stiffened as its eyes caught sight of the hood of the Mightyena cape adorning the human. The lifeless pelt did nothing but stare at him with closed eyes, and though it certainly was unusual, the human's target, a Nidorino, could sense no threat. With that, it lowered its head and grazed a bit more on the fallen fruit of the tree it stood beside.

The human, however, was still a bit unnerved. What if Nidorino had seen him? What if it sensed him? With both questions in mind, he pressed himself to the ground and made his way forward for a bit longer.

Minutes passed as the human crept along. No footsteps indicated that his target had left. This was a relief. He knew he had to catch one of the monsters outside his village, and this was the best chance he had. The opportunity to prove himself worthy was right within his grasp. He just had to take it.

He peeked above the swaying grass once more. Nidorino was still there, only resting this time after eating all of the fruit available. The creature was in a detached state; it was not asleep, nor was it awake. It was both, but it was slowly slipping into a slumber. There could never have been a better time for the boy to take action.

With a great cry, he leaped up and threw the spear at Nidorino. The rabbit-like Pokémon's eyes shot open, but it wasn't until the spear became stuck on its right shoulder when it took action. It leapt to its feet and charged forward, ignoring any sort of pain and the steady loss of blood from its wound. Quickly, the youth moved out of the way of this mad dash before throwing out the net. The hemp ropes landed softly on the body of the injured Nidorino, but the enraged beast still attempted to attack the human. However, its legs became entangled in the mess of the net, and it stumbled forward before landing with a great thud at the youth's feet.

As Nidorino struggled, the youth pulled out the spear, took off his fur pelt, and pressed the latter onto Nidorino's wound to stop it from bleeding.

"I will help you if you agree to become my partner," the boy offered in his archaic tongue.

In response, the proud Pokémon turned its head towards the boy and shot a stream of white needles from its mouth. The attack caught the youth off guard, and he was hit in the stomach with the entirety of the Nidorino's Poison Sting. He screamed and wrapped his arms around his torso as he fell to his side next to the fallen Pokémon. Blood ran out of the youth's wound and colored his bare arms and animal skin pants with a bright, red color. The boy shivered as his blood mixed with the dying Nidorino's. He knew he did his best, but that was the end.

Nidorino snorted and stared the boy straight in the eye, and for the first time in his life, the child saw the savagism of both the Nidorino and nature itself. He knew how vicious the world could be, but never had he really fathomed the beauty of its untamed purity. It was nothing to be commanded but instead something that should be revered. He remembered a village elder telling him this as a warning, and at that point, he wished he paid heed when he had the chance.

As it was, all he could do was close his eyes to his quickly fading world. With his last breath, he said one thing and one thing only to his companion.

"Forgive me, Nidorino."


	3. Some Questions

**Inspiration:** "Modern Pokémon trainers"

* * *

Jack looked out across the countryside from where he sat on the tree branch. Sleeping in the next tree branch over was his partner, a muscular Poliwrath, with whom he had been with since his tenth birthday. The night was peaceful; the sky was clear and the deepest blue one could ever imagine, interrupted only by the white points that burned brightly overhead. Even the moon seemed to shy away from the darkness of the night in utter awe of the infinity above the world she circled each night. The weather was crisp and still, save for the chilled wind that passed quietly over the damp earth. 

Despite being surrounded by true beauty, Jack's thoughts were elsewhere. His blue eyes stared up into the sky and saw nothing, and his entire muscular body was relaxed, as if everything but his eyes was deep in slumber. A single thought echoed through his mind:

_Was it worth it?_

Over and over again, he asked himself that one question. The battles he fought were brutal; in each one, one of his Pokémon viciously attacked another, clawing, biting, and using everything they had just to repel the threat. It was almost as if they were acting on instinct, that the battle could possibly result in death and that the Pokémon's wild instincts told it that the creature it faced was nothing more than something that would prey on it. Eat or be eaten – that's the law of the wild.

And humans exploited this! They built stadiums just for Pokémon battles and had children – mere children – go out to travel the world, capture these creatures, and force them to do their bidding in exchange for a little money and possibly a piece of metal from a so-called "Gym Leader." These vicious duels were televised and glorified; every business in the world set out to get their hands on a piece of this business opportunity. The world was completely blind to the blunt truth that the concept was no better than that of the barbaric Romans of that long-forgotten age who sent men in to fight each other (or starved Pokémon) to the death.

Yet it didn't seem as if Poliwrath _minded_ this forced brutality, though. Still, did that make it _right_?

But…

But then, if what everyone thought was _normal_ wasn't right, then what _was_?

Jack gazed steadily at the sky. It seemed as if all of Heaven was staring down at him, knowing all too well that he would arrive at the answer with a little more probing. Yet the thought of undermining everything that he built his life on…

Without a word, Jack closed his eyes. He pushed the thought from his mind and resolved to not spend another moment on the subject. A voice inside him chanted one phrase over and over again to assure him that what he was doing was _right_. With this confidence, he began drifting off to sleep.

_Yes, some questions,_ he thought, _are best left unasked._


	4. Conflict

**Inspiration:** "Legendary Pokémon war"

* * *

From the darkened skies came a torrent of rain. Brown eyes stared anxiously out towards the world from beyond the canopy.

"This is horrible," a voice behind him murmured.

Ruby didn't turn around, but he knew the sort of expression that was still etched into Sapphire's face. She was terrified, not for herself but for the entire world. Of course, she had every right to be.

"So, what's going on?" Ruby asked cautiously.

At last, he turned his head a bit to look at Sapphire. He watched as her gloved hands nervously played with the locks of brown hair draped over her shoulder. Next to her stood a solemn young man who appeared as if he had rushed out from an art studio. All Ruby knew about him was that his name was Wallace, and he was the Gym Leader of this city. He was doing a great job of being one at the moment, all sarcasm intended. His city was flooding, and he wasn't doing a single thing about it.

"It's Kyogre and Groudon," he replied.

Ruby raised an eyebrow. "What?"

Wallace sighed. He knew he would get this reaction. After all, neither Pokémon had stirred for eons. Wallace himself had thought for years that the two were mere myths, figments of the imaginations of the ancients. Yet all around him, there was proof, and these two children managed to get the talismans of the two gods from a pair of leaders of two of the most pathetic rings of crime in the world.

"Kyogre and Groudon," Wallace repeated slowly. "Kyogre is the god of oceans, and Groudon is the god of continents."

"Right," Ruby scoffed. "And you think these… _gods_ are what caused all of this?"

"Who else could have?"

The question was punctuated with silence.

"Why?" Sapphire finally inquired.

In a way, Ruby was hoping she would, despite the fact that he thought all of this was ludicrous.

"The gods are at war," Wallace informed her earnestly. "They have been for eons. Have you heard the story?"

Both trainers shook their heads. At this, Wallace sighed.

"The story begins millions of years ago when this planet was still new," he began. "All creatures lived in harmony together. The water-dwelling creatures lived deep in the oceans, and the land-dwellers lived far inland. Neither knew that either of their worlds ended where another began.

"Then, one day, a water-dweller swam to the far reaches of the kingdom he lived in and found that it wasn't infinite. At the same time, a land-dweller made a similar journey and a similar discovery. Both creatures hurried back to the rest of their clan and told whoever would listen of their find.

"Neither clans were pleased. Both groups wanted their kingdoms to spread out across the globe with no ocean or no land occupying the same world. So, armies from the water attacked the land, and armies from the land attacked the water. Both sides prayed to their respective gods for help and the assaults continued.

"At last, their prayers were answered. The god of the oceans and the god of the land rose up from the depths of their domains, approached the boundary between them, and commenced a massive battle that would decide whose domain would dominate the planet.

"The attack continued for eighty days and eighty nights, with Kyogre's rain descending upon Groudon for the first forty days and Groudon's sun beating down upon Kyogre for the last forty. It seemed as if the battle would never end – as if there would be no winner. The dwellers of both domains began to grow terrified when they realized that their gods' powers would only increase with each blow from the opposing god. They prayed to a third god for help, but their hope was slowly dwindling.

"At last, on the eighty-first night, a shining star blazed to signal the coming of the god of the sky, Rayquaza. The sky god looked down upon the destruction and the chaos as tears fell from his eyes. The tears became two orbs – the Red Orb and the Blue Orb – whose auras calmed the gods of the domains below his. Then, Kyogre and Groudon retreated to the depths to sleep once more as Rayquaza ascended into the sky. The orbs, meanwhile, were entrusted to the purest of humans to watch over to prevent the gods from awakening."

Wallace paused to look at his captive audience of two. Even Ruby seemed fascinated with the tale.

"But then, as you've told me earlier, Team Magma stole the Blue Orb while Team Aqua took the Red Orb," he added. "Using both orbs with the sole purpose of their own advancement, both of the teams disturbed the gods from their slumber. I believe they have taken refuge in the Cave of Origin to finish the battle that was interrupted so long ago."

"So… how do we stop them?" Sapphire asked with a trembling voice.

Wallace closed his eyes. His silence grew under the incessant tapping of rain drops on the canopy near the entrance to the Cave of Origin.

"We need to find Rayquaza," he finally said. "Rayquaza stopped them once. I'm sure he could do it again."

Ruby shook his head. "Yeah, that's great, but _where_ do we find Rayquaza?"

Wallace exhaled slowly. He waited patiently for an answer to come to mind.

"There is a part of the tale I have yet to tell you," he replied. "After the battle, Rayquaza supposedly returned to his home, a tower dedicated to the sky."

"Which is _where_?" Ruby queried impatiently.

The pause that followed told Ruby that Wallace didn't know. The young trainer was getting fed up with the Gym Leader's fairy tales. He wanted answers, right then and there.

"I need you to find it," Wallace told Ruby as he opened his blue eyes. "Sapphire will go with you."

"Why don't _you_ find it, if you believe it exists?" Ruby snapped.

Wallace turned away to look at the rain collecting in the crater of Sootopolis.

"I need to protect the city," he told Ruby. "I don't know how I could, but I'll find a way."

_Coward!_ Ruby mentally screamed. He wouldn't dare say it, though.

"What if we don't find it?" Sapphire asked.

Wallace turned to her with a strange look. It was then when both of the young trainers knew that they had no choice but to find it. If they failed… then the world would be doomed.

Something deep inside Ruby suddenly turned him into a believer.


End file.
